Tag Archives: Sarcasm

The people of Talkeetna, Alaska sound like my kind of people: No-nonsense and pragmatic with a big dose of humour. If you haven’t heard the sad news, their honorary mayor of twenty years, Mr Stubbs, passed away recently. He was originally elected because they couldn’t find a politician worth voting for; he was merely “honorary” because Talkeetna is only a historical district, and holds no local election. Mr Stubbs was a cat.

Historically, he’s not alone in being a non-human electoral candidate; often, votes for such candidates are a form of protest or political satire. There has been a long line of them: In 1938, Milton, Washington elected a brown mule, Boston Curtis – he won 51 to 0; in the 1968 US Presidential election, Pigasus the Immortal, a boar hog, was nominated as candidate; Sunol, California elected Bosco – a black Labrador-Rottweiler mix – as mayor, 1981-1994; there have been turkeys, monkeys, rhinos, goats, and even non-animate objects such as a fire hydrant, a sock puppet, and a ficus tree that have attempted (and sometimes succeeded in) getting on the ballots.

Did you know that America could have had a much worthier president now? Limberbutt McCubbins, a cat, was officially registered with the Federal Election Commission as a Democratic candidate for the 2016 Presidential elections. His campaign slogan was “Meow Is The Time”. Here is the link for you to peruse the extensive list of historical non-human politicians and candidates.

Go to the list and choose your favourite example; it might give someone inspiration for their own political conundrum! Comments about non-human politicians, only, please…

No, this is not an article about the pros and cons of the position you take while writing; but as a writer, I am fully aware that my job is mostly a sitting one… it’s hard to walk around writing or typing and not fall down the stairs. But there are a lot of pseudo-scientific articles circulating recently about how sitting is the worst thing for your body. I have news for you: Stress about worrying if you’re sitting too much is far worse for your body than your actual physical posture. Sit comfortably, sit straight and relaxed, and write creatively; take occasional breaks by getting up, moving around, stretching, and getting a hot cup of tea for the next round of writing! For a good dose of sarcasm on the topic, click on the image below!